


How come you are the one?

by mousoumachine03



Category: Keyakizaka46 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Slice of Life, i guess?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-11 10:44:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20544860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mousoumachine03/pseuds/mousoumachine03
Summary: Watanabe Risa's first love was over before it could begin





	How come you are the one?

Watanabe Risa, currently in third year of high school, lazily slouched over her desk even though it was six forty-five in the morning and homeroom would not start for another fifteen minutes. The outside weather was nice – it was sunny, but not intense like the summer sun, just gentle enough to lessen the April chilliness. It was a fine day to be out and about, maybe just lazing about on the bank of Keyaki River or in the local park, and it would have been Risa’s plan too, if not for the fact that she was stuck inside her classroom. Her parents had not been very happy about her attendance rate the two years prior and was adamant that she go to school on enough occasions to at least graduate. Furthermore, this was the first day of class when important announcements were definitely going to be made; and Risa would rather attend this one time than to ask one of her dumb classmates about those announcements later.

Still, Risa was bored out of her mind. The creepy face of her homeroom teacher did nothing to improve the mood.

She wished that her good friend Manaka was still here, but the latter had transferred back to her hometown of Niigata at the middle of sophomore year, leaving Risa alone in this melancholic world. They still wrote to each other frequently but it did not quite feel the same as being next to each other physically. Looking out of the window, Risa wondered how had Manaka been recently and what had she been up to and what they could have done together if only they had not been cruelly separated by fate.

The shrill ringing of the bell, though, quickly cut her train of thoughts and brought her back to reality, to the mundane classroom she was still unfortunately stuck in. The front door slid opened as the teacher stepped inside the classroom.

However, this was not her creepy middle-aged teacher at all, but the principal of the school; and following behind him wordlessly was a black-haired woman who looked like she was maybe in her mid-twenties, dressed in a white shirt, beige knee-length pencil skirt and a matching blazer. The class immediately whispering, curious not only about the absence of their usual mentor but also about the presence of this very pretty woman. The principal cleared his old throat as a means of asking the class for attention.

“Students!” He said. “Due to unfavorable circumstances, your teacher – Tokuyama-sensei – has been unable to continue his position as an educator, and has announced retirement over the summer. From this point on, you will have a new teacher. Please treat her well.”

He then gestured for the new teacher to introduce herself and retreated to his air-conditioned room to do whatever that high school principals did. The new teacher, understandably nervous, wrote her name on the blackboard in very neat handwriting. When finished, she turned to the class and bowed respectfully, even though she was at a higher hierarchy than them.

“My name’s Sugai Yuuka, from now on I’ll be in your care.” Her voice was pleasant to listen to and her word choice were elegant, unlike good ol’ Tokuyama. “This is my first time teaching a full class, so if there is anything that I need to improve, please let me know right away. I hope we will have a meaningful and enjoyable year together. That’s all about me, unless you want to know anything more?”

As if a floodgate had been lifted, the class jumped at the chance to ask Sugai-sensei some more personal questions.

“What’s your favorite food?”

“What’s your hobby?”

“Do you have a favorite type of person?”

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

For the first three questions, Sugai-sensei gave answers right away, even if the third one was a bit ambiguous. But she dodged the fourth question, however, prompting the students, especially the boys, to hunger for truth even more. Before she knew it, all of them had started asking questions about her love life, and it was obvious that Sugai-sensei was uncomfortable answering this certain topic. However, being inexperienced, she had great difficulty calming thirsty teenagers down.

“SHUT UP!”

From the back of the class, Risa stood up, slammed her hands on her desk and screamed at the top of her lungs. For a brief moment, everything and everyone was silent, with all the attention focused on her. Watanabe Risa had never been the type to attract attention to herself (it made truancy a harder game), so this rare outburst left the whole class at a loss for words.

Sugai-sensei, though, looked relieved, having escaped from the out-of-control interrogation session.

“Thank you, um....” the new teacher squinted at the class seat diagram to figure out who had just saved her from the relentless questioning.

“The name’s Watanabe Risa.”

“Oh, right, thank you Watanabe-san.” Sugai-sensei said. “Now, class. When I said you could ask questions, I mean questions about my teaching methods or the syllabus, not my personal life. Please refrain from asking such questions ever again.”

The class grunted as their fun was ruined, some even shot Risa dirty looks; but when Sugai-sensei smiled at her when their eyes met, Risa felt like it was worth it.

Sugai-sensei was capable, sort of, but from time to time she would slip up. She was well-received and cherished by the students, who even felt guilty about making her uncomfortable on her first day of work. She did not hesitate to answer any earnest question put forth by any student, and personally made sure that each student would do well in their learning experience.

Including the truant Risa.

It did not take long for Sugai-sensei to recognize Risa’s frequent absence in class, and asked the other teachers about it. They had mostly given up on Risa and advised the new teacher not to worry too much about it.

“That girl, she will never graduate like that.” A senior teacher said. “But I don’t think she even cares.”

“That can’t be right. I have to fix that.” Sugai-sensei replied, calmly but confidently.

“Suit yourself then. But don’t be too surprised when Watanabe doesn’t listen to you.” The other teacher said. “Also, don’t expect anyone among us to help. For any other student, it would’ve been fine, but we have had enough of Watanabe’s insolent attitude.”

“Thank you, that would be enough.”

Even though she was set in her way about helping the delinquent, Sugai-sensei still wavered a little bit when she thought about it in depth. Several of her senior teachers had tried to help Watanabe Risa, but none of them have succeeded so far. Nonetheless, as a legitimate educator, she was determined to not let any student fall behind.

“Watanabe-san.” Sugai-sensei said when she returned Risa’s test result - a bright red 46 - one time. “Please see me after class.”

If this had been any other teacher, Risa would not have bothered unless they threatened to call her parents; but this was Sugai-sensei who had been very nice to her since the school year started, she would feel a little bit guilty for being mean to the new teacher. So against her better judgement, Risa opted to stay after class that one time to the teacher’s request.

A few hours later, when everyone else had either left for club activities or for home, Risa still remained after class. Sugai-sensei, however, was nowhere to be found. Fifteen minutes passed and Risa was getting bored. She wondered if the teacher had forgotten about their little appointment and was about to leave, perhaps to the arcade where she and Manaka used to hang out. Before she could finish packing up, though, Sugai-sensei had walked into the classroom, looking apologetic for being late.

“I’m sorry, there was a meeting for all faculties. I’m not going to waste any of your time, so let’s get straight to the problem/” said the teacher. “I am very concerned about your grade, Watanabe-san.”

“Hmmm, pretty sure all the other teachers have told me that before, and I’m going to give you the same answer that I gave them.” Risa huffed in annoyance. “I don’t give a damn.”

“Please refrain from using such coarse language, Watanabe-san. Besides, what do you mean by saying that you don’t care? This is your future we’re talking about.”

“I don’t personally believe that some grade on a paper is going to dictate how my life would turn out.” Risa dismissed the teacher’s concern completely and looked outside of the window. “Look, I’m dumb, and maybe I don’t have much interest in academic pursuits, but I’ll do fine, I promise?”

“Watanabe-san!” Sugai-sensei sounded not mad, but certainly disappointed. She did not expect it to be easy to sway the delinquent’s waywardness right away; but this refusal of cooperation was pushing the conversation nowhere. “At this rate you won’t be able to graduate high school, let alone go to college or get a job. How would you do fine like that.”

“Sugai-sensei, as much as I’m grateful for your concern, I don’t think it matters much anyway.” Risa sighed. “I’m pretty sure there are tons of jobs out there that don’t require a high school diploma.”

“That’s it? You want to work those types of jobs forever?” Sugai-sensei raised an eyebrow. “I mean, it’s fine if you truly want to do so; but it will be very hard to live on a minimum wage, and I surely don’t want any of my students to live such a life! Are you absolutely sure that you will be fine living on a minimum wage job for the rest of your life?”

Risa pondered. It was true that she had never gave such thought about it before, and the previous teachers’ lectures did not make much of an impact on her worldview. But Risa also admitted that she was younger and dumber, but now she was in her third and last year of high school, and there was not much more time to fool around. Time was running out for her, and maybe Sugai-sensei did have a point. Truthfully, the point about getting a job without a high school diploma was just something she came up on the fly and not a serious thought. 

Risa sighed, and felt defeated.

Realizing the unresponsiveness from the stubborn student, and also the fact that it was getting late, Sugai-sensei only shook her head.

“It’s almost closing time now, it’s better that you go home. We will continue this talk on another occasion, and until that time, please consider what I have said today.”

“Yes, Sugai-sensei.” 

At home, Risa kept thinking about what transpired earlier. She felt that Sugai-sensei was right and even though she had no idea what her future would be like, she would not want to be working a dead-end job. Sighing in defeat, Risa fished out her textbooks from her school bag and began reading them carefully, for maybe the first time ever since she entered high school.

However, thirty minutes into the task, she recognized that she barely understood anything. Not that she expected to anyway, for she hadn’t been paying attention at school properly.

There was only one way to fix the problem, one that would require her to swallow her pride.

“Excuse me, is Sugai-sensei here?”

During recess, Risa had to trudge her way to the teacher’s lounge, where all the teachers gathered during break time. All the occupants were shocked to see the infamous Watanabe Risa showing up at the teacher’s lounge, except for one - who merely hid her smug victorious smile behind her cup of coffee.

“Sugai-sensei, can I please talk to you for a moment?”

The other teachers still hadn’t recovered from their shock when they realized that Risa was talking to their colleague in a respectful manner, rather than her usual curt and rude one. To Sugai-sensei though, she were mostly pleased by this change in Risa’s wayward behavior.

They went to an empty room, where Risa felt comfortable enough to make her next move without being seen by fellow students.

“I have thought about what you said the other day.” Risa said. “And…”

“And?”

“And I realize that you’re right and I should better myself. But studying really isn’t my strong suit, so I need some help. Please tutor me if you don’t mind, Sugai-sensei!”

“Ara, I’m glad that you have come to this decision, and I hope that you can keep this up.” Sugai-sensei smiled, her smile was gentle and bright as usual. “Do you have any after school activity at the moment?”

Risa shook her head. “No, not really.”

“Then I suppose we can have one hour and thirty minutes a day for you to review your schoolwork. I know it’s going to be difficult, but let’s pull through this with one million horsepower!”

Sugai-sensei’s cheer was too corny for Risa’s taste, if it had been said by anyone else. However, it was Sugai-sensei who said it, and Risa felt somewhat encouraged by a cheer that she would have otherwise turned a deaf ear to.

“Yes, sensei.”

“Also, Watanabe-san?”

“Yes?”

“Please stop skipping class, or it will be even harder to keep with the work.”

“I understand, sensei.”

And so, for the next two months, the delinquent Risa actually started going to class and paid attention. She still had a tough time understanding what was being taught, and wished that she hadn’t slacked off earlier, but after school sessions with Sugai-sensei really were helpful; the teacher was enthusiastic about it and would not mind repeating something until Risa finally understood it. They were not enough to suddenly make her top 5 - heck, not even top ten - of the class, but they certainly filled in the blank and kept her from trailing behind.

And knowledge wasn’t the only benefit of those tutoring sessions, either.

Risa wasn’t sure when or how it started, but with Sugai-sensei close to her, with only the two of them left in a corner of the world, unbothered by anyone else, she felt a slight flutter in her heart, especially when the teacher smiled at her or get very, very close to her to look at a problem that Risa didn’t quite understand. Risa felt glad that she had great control over her expression - being dubbed the “Cool Beauty” by fellow delinquents when they hang out - because when school was over and she was safe in her room, she would blush when recalling about the extra class. It certainly didn’t help that Sugai-sensei had this therapeutic fragrance around her and it weakened Risa’s stoic defense.

This was wrong and Risa knew it, but she could not help having a crush on her teacher.

So she decided to keep it to herself, at least until an appropriate moment.

Soon the end of the first term came, bringing along with it a string of end-of-term tests. Sugai-sensei suggested that their after school sessions be extended to two hours - half an hour more than during the term itself - but Risa didn’t mind: she liked spending time with the teacher. If it was good old Tokuyama who suggested it, she would have bailed; but this was Sugai-sensei so she happily obliged.

Her test results came back with an average score of 65, it was not the best of course, but it was still the highest Risa had ever achieved.

“You see, Watanabe-san, you can do it if you try.” Sugai-sensei smiled, pleased with the result that Risa turned in. She knew for sure now that what she did was not in vain.

Risa’s parents were also delighted with their daughter’s newfound vigor in studying, and endlessly thanked Sugai-sensei for it. They confided in her to continue tutoring Risa in the second and third term, when she would be preparing for college entrance exams. Sugai-sensei courteously accepted, much to Risa’s inner glee. She was quite afraid that since she had improved, Sugai-sensei would leave her to fend for herself; but now she chided herself for doubting the goodwill of the generous teacher.

Risa told herself that if she could march through the last year of high school successfully, she would have the chance to legitimately express her feelings for Sugai-sensei.

Out of curiosity, Risa had searched for Sugai-sensei’s information online, such as her social media. To her utter disappointment, nothing turned up. Risa had heard rumors that Sugai-sensei was the heiress of the Sugai family, one of the most influential families in Japan, who had ties to the Emperor and the Royal family, that was why her information were so close to confidential. Nobody could verify it, of course, and Risa thought of it no more than she thought of the discarded wrapper of the sandwich she had for lunch.

She even dragged Manaka into it, but they found nothing. Not even a tagged photo or a mere mention. Manaka was surprised that Risa could ever be this interested in her teachers, whom she thought were Risa’s natural enemy. She was glad, though, that Risa had something to serve as a motivation, and mentioned in her letters to Risa that she would be glad to meet this wonderful Sugai-sensei sometime soon.

The second, then the third term of the school year came and went; Risa found herself talking to Sugai-sensei about her future career choice. To the latter’s complete, yet pleasant surprise, Risa had decided to pursue photography. This idea came from one time Risa was asked by a classmate - Kobayashi Yui, to help take pictures at an event held by the Soft Music club. She grew unprecedentedly interested in this unexpected gig, and had begun to be an unofficial photographer for the school clubs, and even took outside classes in beginner photography. Sugai-sensei was understanding and supportive, of course.

Her parents - however - not so much.

Risa could see their arguments well from their angle: pursuit of an art degree could be a risky take, and her parents wanted her to follow their path to the business world. Risa, though, stubbornly decided to stand her ground, just like the time she first seriously talked with Sugai-sensei about her future life. The difference was that while she wasn’t so sure about her future back then, she was confident in her choice this time and was willing to defend her position at all cost.

But her parents were her parents after all, and Risa suspected that maybe she inherited her stubbornness from them. They threatened that if she were to go into photography as her choice of study, they would not fund her education at all. And Risa knew that they were more than capable of carrying out the threat. She discussed this with her teacher during their tutoring sessions - by now Sugai-sensei no longer had to scrutinize her work and explain to her the most minor of details anymore. The teacher promised her that she would talk to her parents if she needed to.

Sugai-sensei invited the Watanabe family to an exhibit of a famous photographer, whose event tickets usually sold for millions of yen and only the elite could participate. Sugai-sensei advised Risa to go and listen to the photographer’s professional tips and tricks while she handled the parents. Risa was not sure how a high school teacher like Sugai-sensei could procure invitations to such an exquisite event, or what did she told her parents so that they grudgingly changed their minds, but she decided to let it slide and enjoyed the trip.

The deal did not come out perfect, but at least it was a compromisation: Risa had to apply to both a business school alongside her chosen art university, and if she failed the art university she would have to attend said business school instead, though she might pursue photography in her own free time. Risa once again felt grateful for the support of her favorite teacher, and her feelings for Sugai-sensei only intensified.

She had made up her mind - she would confess her feelings after the graduation ceremony was done and she was no longer a student, afraid that such an interaction might kill their professional relations.

Risa was on edge, counting down all the way until the day of the ceremony. The fact that the exams were over (she didn’t get accepted into art school, anyway) and no more extra classes were needed, made her suffer even more from a lack of time spent with Sugai-sensei. 

When the ex-delinquent thought she could no longer stand waiting, the ceremony finally arrived and left, after so much anticipation from Risa. It was strange, in a way: as a student, Risa couldn’t wait for the day she could finally leave, yet now that she had graduated, she felt like missing it already. After all, it was here that she met the one important person in her life.

Speaking of which, she had invited Sugai-sensei out for a walk in the park nearby the school, nearly a week after graduation. They enjoyed a brief walk down the memory lane, while Risa mustered all the courage to say what she wanted to say. Before she knew it, though, they had walked through the park and out to the street sidewalk. It was getting late in the afternoon, so Sugai-sensei had been texting someone, most likely her friend or butler, to pick her up (she couldn’t drive even though she was almost twenty eight). 

“Sugai-sensei, I…” Risa spoke up as they stood on the sidewalk. Cutting in the middle of her sentence, a bright red sport convertible halted right in front of them, driven by a brunette, late-twenties woman who looked very familiar to Risa for some reason. It took her a good minute to identify the person: she was Moriya Akane, a professional tennis player who had won an impressive amount of trophies despite being very young.

Sugai-sensei, though, did not only recognize the celebrity in a heartbeat, but also came over and greeted said celebrity with a peck on the lips.

And then it dawned on Risa. She could hear the sound of her own heart cracking before shattering into a thousand pieces.

Her first love was over before it even began.

She did her hardest to stop her tears from falling.

Sugai-sensei, after having enough smooching with her lover, turned to Risa and said:

“I’m sorry about that, I was too excited. But anyway, this is my fiancée, Moriya Akane. Akane, this is Watanabe Risa-san, the student I told you about.”

She was slightly giggly.

“Oh, so it’s you. Yuuka talked on and on about you.” Moriya Akane said, getting out of the car and offered a friendly hand to Risa; her other hand was entwined with Sugai-sensei’s own, as Risa noticed. “I hope she wasn’t too harsh on you.”

“Oh, no, not really. She was very nice to me even though I was a total jerk. It’s my honor to have been her student.” Risa replied, trying to keep her voice in its usual cool, nonchalant state, even though she was dying inside from disappointment, heartbreak and jealousy. “You must have been really lucky to have someone like her, Moriya-san.”

“I know, right? She makes me feel like I’m the happiest person alive.” Moriya boasted confidently, oblivious to Risa’s internal turmoil.

“Well, it’s been nice talking to you, Sugai-sensei, Moriya-san, but I have to get going right now. It’s getting late and I haven’t done my grocery shopping. I wish you great happiness.” Risa said, wanting to bail before she could burst out crying like a child whose toy was taken away. “Goodbye.”

Turning around, Watanabe Risa walked away, into the sunset.

**Author's Note:**

> I saw this pairing suggestion on Twitter and decided "heck, why not" and after postponing for like a week I finally finished it on a caffeine-fueled rage.


End file.
